


Anthea's Share

by Upstarsfromreality



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:33:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25240948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Upstarsfromreality/pseuds/Upstarsfromreality
Summary: Sometimes even BAMFs screw up.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 6





	Anthea's Share

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sgam76](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgam76/gifts), [KathyG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathyG/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Long Walk Down a Dusty Road](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621058) by [sgam76](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgam76/pseuds/sgam76). 
  * Inspired by [Taking It Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22153807) by [KathyG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathyG/pseuds/KathyG). 



> This fic is a gap-filler to Sgam76's "A Long Walk Down a Dusty Road", specifically Chapter 43, and won't make much sense without it. It's also inspired by KathyG's "Taking It Back", but is chronologically a prequel so you can read that and this in either order. But you absolutely should read both "A Long Walk Down a Dusty Road" and "Taking It Back" because they are both awesome.

Anthea looked into the church hall where her meeting would be with dread. She'd been going to these things for months, ever since it first seemed like she and Gabe were likely to be together long term. This was the first time she had really seen that she wasn't only going to help Gabe, but had issues of her own to work on if she was going to be with him.

Everyone got their coffee and the meeting settled down quickly. The moderator chose not to introduce a topic, leaving each member to decide what to share on their own. Just as the moderator started to wrap up, Anthea stood up.

"Hello, my name is Anthea and I am in a relationship with an alcoholic," she began, feeling hugged by the answering chorus of "Hi, Anthea," she got in return. She added, "it hasn't been a good week for me.

"I got in a fight with Gabe about three days ago. A big fight, not much shouting at first, but lots of sniping. We were talking about the dishwasher. We were pretending not to talk about the guy Gabe is sponsoring. Gabe can't tell me many things, of course. It's anonymous for a reason. But I do know who he's sponsoring. It's a guy we both know, someone I've worked with quite intensely in the past. Some one I've thought of as a friend. And he has hurt us, and hurt our friends. Badly. So, so badly.

"I yelled at Gabe for sponsoring this guy. Gabe yelled back at me, and asked me why he shouldn't. And then, then I told Gabe I didn't think the guy was worth it. I told him that the guy had just as well kill himself if he was going to do the kind of things he had done again. Gabe looked at me really hard after that. He just sat there quietly until he asked me whether I had said anything like that to this guy. I had to tell him that I had. Gabe just looked at me for a long time. Then he asked me whether I thought he was worth it. He asked me whether I thought he should kill himself if he ever screwed up. He told me that every alcoholic has to start their recovery somewhere. That's when I first knew I'd messed up. Gabe told me a little bit more about where the man he's sponsoring started from, and a bit about his journey so far, just things he had permission to tell. Every word showed that what I had said was even worse than I thought.I hope I find a way to put it right."

Anthea sat down, exhausted. She would speak to Mycroft in a few days and hear what he had to say, but she knew now that the more important conversation would be with John.


End file.
